Teaching
Within the Dept of Communication, I teach courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Below are the courses and the semester I expect to teach them.
Comm 2200: Media Communication
Semesters Taught: Fall 2013, Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020
This course will provide an introductory understanding of media content, industries, policies, research, and effects. Topics include the history of mediated communication, how the media operate, how they affect you and others, how society influences the creation of mediated messages, how messages are psychologically processed, who owns/controls the media, research to date on media content and effects, and an overview of media policy. These topics will be examined through current theoretical and empirical research on mediated communication. In this sense, the course is designed to introduce you to topics that will be covered in depth in the media-related Communication courses here at Cornell.
Learning Objectives
- Identify the policies and institutions that impact the content, structure and distribution of media products.
- Describe the economic and structural operations of the media industry.
- Explain various kinds of processes and effects of media on individuals, groups, and society.
- Apply a theory of media effects to a media message or organization.
Comm 3200: New Media & Society
Semesters Taught: Spring 2012, Spring 2014
(alternately taught)
This course will interrogate how the social, political, and cultural landscape has changed in relation to digital media and information technologies. We will develop critical resources to better understand the history of these new technologies and emerging communicative forms, the economics and politics behind them, the laws and policies currently developing around them, and the sociocultural shifts from which they have emerged, and that they have engendered.
Learning Objectives
- Identify the policies and institutions that impact the content, structure and distribution of media products.
- Describe the economic and structural operations of the media industry.
- Explain various kinds of processes and effects of media on individuals, groups, and society.
- Apply a theory of media effects to a media message or organization.
Comm 4650: Mobile Communication & Public Life
Semesters Taught: Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Spring 2016, Spring 2017
Mobile technology is an increasingly important tool for modern communication. This course will take a critical exploration of the role of mobile communication in public life. Throughout the course, we will explore the societal impact of mobile communication so that students can gain a deeper intellectual understanding of mobile communication in public life and its impact on issues such as social interaction, identity, privacy, sense of place, and surveillance. By the end of the course, students should have a critical understanding of the global social, political, and economic impact of mobile communication
Learning Objectives
- Identify a variety of implications of mobile communication for social relations.
- Describe economic and political effects of mobile communication globally.
- Explain privacy and safety issues related to mobile communication.
- Analyze an area of research about mobile communication to develop a thesis, synthesize the literature, and justify your thesis.
Comm 6830: Qualitative Research Methods
Semesters Taught: Spring, 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2013, Spring 2016, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024
This course is designed to provide students with an introduction to ethnographic and qualitative research methods. This seminar examines qualitative methods used in social science research, focusing primarily on participant-observation, in-depth interviewing, writing fieldnotes, and the transformation of these primary field data into written qualitative research documents. Seminar readings on specific research methods will contribute to the formulation of a research project to be carried out during the semester. Recent literature on the theoretical and ethical aspects of these methods will also be considered in the context of these projects.
Learning Objectives
- Describe strengths and weaknesses of qualitative research.
- Distinguish between different epistemological approaches within qualitative research.
- Analyze the key steps in conducting qualitative research including access, sampling, data collecting, data analysis, and writing.
- Apply the knowledge and skills learned in the class to an independent qualitative research project.
Comm 7800: Seminar in the Sociology of Communication
Semesters Taught: Spring 2010, Spring 2012, Spring 2014
This graduate seminar explores the core theoretical and conceptual approaches within the sociology of communication. It breaks the field into 5 schools of thoughts: The Chicago School, the Columbia School, the Frankfurt School, the Birmingham School, and the Toronto School. Throughout the course, graduate students will read key historical works from each school, as well as critiques of the scholarship. In addition the course also examines how these schools of thought have evolved in recent literature within the field of communication.
Learning Objectives
- Identify the major theoretical and methodological approach of several “Schools of Thought” within the sociology of communication.
- Compare and contrast the different theoretical and methodological approaches of several “Schools of Thought” within the sociology of communication.
- Recognize how early and mid twentieth century sociological research has influenced contemporary communication and media studies.
- Apply one of the theoretical perspectives discussed in class to an independent communication research project